"Gotham" Discussion Thread
Sept. 22 - Series Premiere on FOX

I don't know. Thinking long term, how long can you go without people saying, "Just give us Batman, already!" Probably wouldn't make it through one season without it.

And do they think just doing a straight up Batman TV show WOULDN'T work? I guess they must....Personally I think it would be the most practical DC property to pull off on TV. The sheer volume of Bat-mythos would give you seven seasons, easy. Plus, ummmmmm....everyone loves Batman already!

But I guess we'll take Commissioner Gordon. Since it's TV, I bet he works with, and is related to a bunch of young, hot chicks.

I read the artical and it's slightly different than the version that was floating around during the summer. The version I had heard they wanted to make was closer to the Gotham Centrel comics that focused on the Gotham PD with Batman showing up from time to time mainly in the shadows (so they could have him as a character but not the main character, think more of a recurring cameo).

As F'ed up as this is, I'm gonna take it as GOOD news. I mean if Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has got the competition so worked up that Rupert Murdock's crew will sign off on such a lame notion as Law and Order: Gotham, then its even money the CW will pick-up the Flash.

Would the Bat be in it at all? The gist I got from the article is this would be a Smallville riff. Gordon as an up and coming cop years before he would meet the Batman (similar to what was tried with "Bruce Wayne" and again with "The Graysons."

This would probably be right up Fox's alley. Gritty crime drama with a liberal mix of single dad home life with lil' Babs (the single father of a teenage daughter shtick would be TV gold).

And do they think just doing a straight up Batman TV show WOULDN'T work? I guess they must....Personally I think it would be the most practical DC property to pull off on TV. The sheer volume of Bat-mythos would give you seven seasons, easy. Plus, ummmmmm....everyone loves Batman already!

Why haven't they done Batman? Seriously, Arrow is practically Batman with a bow anyway. Switch out Diggle for an English guy, Felicity for Oracle, the leather hoody for a bat-suit, and pop for a halfway decent batmobile. And hey, Barrowman would be creepy as Hell as a Nolanesque Joker.

So in reality, it's just another cop-show that occasionally features minor Marvel heroes that couldn't make their own movies?

You just hate Joss

true, but the point here is, there's little difference between these two ideas, so why the immediate hate for one, and universal acceptance for the other? I mean, outside of another desperate attempt of DC to match Marvel?

I wouldn't say I HATE the idea. I like Commissioner Gordon. I just say put all the cards on the table and do a Batman TV show. THIS could be what sets them apart from Marvel. They aren't about to put any of their big guns on TV on a regular basis. Like I say, you could easily fill season after season with Batman lore. Do story arks like the rise and fall of Harvey Dent, all the various Robins, will-they-won't-they romance with Catoman (that will keep the chicks coming back), and an endless pool of cool villains.....They can even save a ton of money on the Batmobile and pull the Keaton ride out of mothballs and have it appear on a regular basis (OK, now I'm just talking crazy talk).

I'm pretty sure there are rights and all that to go along with live action movie/TV shows, certain production companies own rights to make certain entities, kind of like how Smallville stayed away from being a Superman show and more a Clark show. I'm betting anything that's why we haven't seen a Batman show apart from the animated ones.

They can even save a ton of money on the Batmobile and pull the Keaton ride out of mothballs and have it appear on a regular basis (OK, now I'm just talking crazy talk).

Hey, you still occasionally see the Keatonmobile AND the Bat-Suit they made for that OnStar Batman campaign years ago at conventions or car shows. That's the suit they used for Birds of Prey, why not se it in a full-on Batman series?

That is how all comic properties should be now. #$## movies and the endless squabbling they cause trying to please all of nerd-dom...with the amount of time and money put into the dozens of fantasy tv series nowadays, there's no reason we should settle for anything less.

#$## movies and the endless squabbling they cause trying to please all of nerd-dom...

Eh....even the best Batman TV show wouldn't be safe from the wrath of the fanboy. The minute they see something that doesn't line up with a comic they read 35 years ago it'll be, "Ugh, I hate when they pull this crap!" and they'll be done.

I wouldn't say I HATE the idea. I like Commissioner Gordon. I just say put all the cards on the table and do a Batman TV show. THIS could be what sets them apart from Marvel. They aren't about to put any of their big guns on TV on a regular basis. Like I say, you could easily fill season after season with Batman lore. Do story arks like the rise and fall of Harvey Dent, all the various Robins, will-they-won't-they romance with Catoman (that will keep the chicks coming back), and an endless pool of cool villains.....They can even save a ton of money on the Batmobile and pull the Keaton ride out of mothballs and have it appear on a regular basis (OK, now I'm just talking crazy talk).

Honestly I think it all comes down to money and I don't mean how much the show would cost. If there was a live action Batman show (and by Batman show I mean a guy in a suit who is called Batman, not some guy trying to figure out what to do and what to be called) on every week then you wouldn't pay all the money to see a Batman movie or so the suits think. They feel that a weekly animated show doesn't take away from the movie audience, but a live action show does.

Here's a little bit of irony my brother pointed out when I clued him into the Gordon show.

The last time Commissioner Gordon appeared on live-action television, he was a silly old guy whose greatest achievements were dialing the bat-phone and constantly complaining how completely helpless he and his fellow policemen were without Batman.

Twelve year old Bruce, and classic Bat-Villains? So Gordon is an elementary school crossing guard?

Maybe I missed it, but I've never seen the story of a really young Bruce AFTER his parents being shot. All the stories I've seen jump ahead to him being a young adult as he hops the globe getting his training done. Seeing Bruce between the ages of 10-18ish might be interesting if done right. At this point, when nearly EVERY story has been done already, I'll take anything that appears original.

I always have to curb my enthusiasm when they say we WILL see Bruce in the cape by the final episode. Technically, we saw Clark "in the cape" in the final episode of Smallville, and that was a complete cop out.

I don't know how I feel about a Batman universe where all (I think?) the villains have been around long before he has. It's also puzzling how some of the mentioned villains could be dealt with by Gordon and his force....

Alas, like others have said, it's different. I'll take the whole first season, then judge.

I'm pretty sure there are rights and all that to go along with live action movie/TV shows, certain production companies own rights to make certain entities, kind of like how Smallville stayed away from being a Superman show and more a Clark show. I'm betting anything that's why we haven't seen a Batman show apart from the animated ones.

I think that is the likely reason since I doubt that the WB would want to compete with itself by having Batman in a movie and a show with different continuities. Batman characters couldn't appear in the animated Justice League series because of the bat embargo in placed due to the Batman. They could have a movie Batman appear in cameos in a tv series, but that involves contracts.